Personal update:
The 2023 Formula 1 season is my sixth season as an editor-reporter with Viaplay in Norway. 😁

And Formula 2!
It’s an important F2 season for Norway…

Look forward to the journey & storytelling weaved with stats, facts, interviews, graphics & experiences.

#F1

Wrapping off my *fifth* season of reporting on Formula 1 with @ViaplaySport.

It's been a very rewarding & fulfilling journey, one that started in 2018 after a conversation with @Atlegulbrandsen & @ViaplayRamberg.

103 races...and counting! 😎

#F1 #Viaplay

https://twitter.com/ViaplaySport/status/1594397709401587712?s=20&t=gVj4vqPzwu8FW5QiZVUHAQ

One for the history books...

After Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok & Mahaveer Raghunathan, @DaruvalaJehan becomes the 4th Indian to drive an #F1 car.

He’ll test Mclaren’s 2021 car at Silverstone under their TPC program.

Kudos, Jehan.
A dream come true - for both of us!

Jehan stepping into an #F1 car is a culmination of a journey for me, too.

I’ve followed Jehan’s career since he was 11 years old - since he participated in Force India’s “One from a Billion Hunt” in 2011.

He's gone from making steps 'towards' F1 to now stepping 'into' F1!

As Jehan said himself, “good results in F2 & a successful 2-day test with Mclaren” is what he hopes will put himself out there in the world of #F1.

I’ve seen up-close how hard @DaruvalaJehan & his family have worked over the years & these 2 days will be truly gratifying!🤞🏽😇

The images shared are from 2012 - the first one is with the three One from a Billion Hunt boys - Arjun Maini, Tarun Reddy & Jehan Daruvala.

The second is from the 2012 Indian GP - Jehan was a prized guest of the team!

The Motorsport joys of my life.

Jehan Daruvala's Maiden F1 Test With Mclaren

This week in 2011, Vijay Mallya announced the 'One from a Billion Hunt' to find Force India's 'Indian' Formula 1 driver.

The team had worked very hard on visuals + communication.

Here's a throwback to the 'Are you India's God of Speed?' campaign.

More: #LinkInBio
#F1 #InsideF1

The grassroots program was run across 7 cities in India; giving free access to karting to school students from 11-18 years of age.

The program saw 1,000s of students participate - some with a career in mind & others to explore what motor-racing can be about.

#F1 #FeelTheForce

The entire team was so upbeat about the 'One from a Billion Hunt' that the logo + sign-up URL featured on the sidepods of the VJM04 (Force India's 2011 car) on the Friday of a GP weekend.

Nico Hulkenberg & Anthony Hamilton were involved with the final stages of the program.
#F1

Here's what Anthony Hamilton said back then

"Based on the law of averages, there must be someone talented out there and this programme will hopefully find them."

The winners were
1. @ArjunMaini
2. Tarun Reddy
3. @DaruvalaJehan

Mobil1 were proud sponsors

#F1 #India #Motorsport

The original plan was to have Arjun train in Europe while Tarun & Jehan go down the Motorsport route in Asia.

But the team was so pleased with the quality of the top-3 finishers that all 3 of them were sent to Europe for further training & evaluation.
#F1

The trio participated in the British Karting Championship with Ricky Flynn Motorsport & had Terry Fullerton (you might know him from the movie 'Senna') as their driver-coach.

After a year of education & experience, 2013 was a breakthrough for the academy.
#F1 

@DaruvalaJehan became the first & only Indian to win the British Karting Championship (KF3).

He is now a part of the Red Bull Driver Program & races in Formula 2 with Prema.

He is also India's best hope to see a driver race in #F1 in the near future.

Interested in more Force India / One from a Billion Hunt stories?

Hear our 'What's your Force India story?' series on the Inside Line #F1 Podcast where @rsabnavis & I talk to @iamsoumilaroraa about the joys of working with 'India's Formula 1 team'.
#LinkInBio
#Podcast #InsideF1


You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/kunalashah/rocNV4u

One from a Billion Hunt

Episode 2 of “what’s your Force India #F1 Team story?” is out now!

@rsabnavis joins @iamsoumilaroraa & me to talk about Shah Rukh Khan’s association with FIF1, a tribute to Sachin Tendulkar’s cricket career, One from a Billion Hunt and...
#InsideF1
https://twitter.com/kunalashah/status/1509825507960909826?s=21

Adrian Sutil-Paul Di Resta playing cricket with Royal Challengers Bangalore & Sahara Pune Warriors.

Here are the Force India drivers with one of the most-explosive cricketers in T20.

Check out: #F1MeetsCricket

#InsideF1 #F1 
https://twitter.com/AstonMartinF1/status/326728629784571904?s=20&t=G5a1HWk_7ux62hbcAah30w

Bowling legend Allan Donald gave tips to Sutil-Di Resta for their promotional play during the 2013 Indian Premier League.

Sutil actually hit the stumps in his second attempt!

This was co-promotion between IPL & Force India.

#F1MeetsCricket #F1
https://twitter.com/AstonMartinF1/status/326732116983431171?s=20&t=G5a1HWk_7ux62hbcAah30w

Royal Challengers Bangalore became the ONLY IPL team to be promoted on a Formula 1 car. 

Here's how the logo looked on the VJM06.
#F1 #ForceIndia #InsideF1 
https://twitter.com/AstonMartinF1/status/396205420714262528?s=20&t=G5a1HWk_7ux62hbcAah30w

And of course, we had a jersey exchange between the RCB cricketers & Force India drivers. Lots of cross content for #F1 & Cricket!

If this story of Force India F1 Team interests you, check out the episode *link in my bio* & tune in for behind-the-scenes content.
#InsideF1 #IPL

Those who watched live cricket matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore those years would remember that a Force India #F1 car was parked in the stadium for the entire duration of the IPL.

It was the VJM01, yes.
#InsideF1 #RRvsRCB

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/kunalashah/nAxZeWw

Royal Challengers Bangalore & Force India (#F1MeetsCricket)

“What’s your Force India #F1 Team story?”

A question I’m asked several times over since I worked 5+ years with the team in its heydays.

So in the winter break, I invited @rsabnavis to join @iamsoumilaroraa & me on the Inside Line F1 Podcast to discuss just that - Force India.

Ravikant & I took a journey down memory lane to recollect our fondest memories of working for one of the most-iconic mid-field teams in recent times.

And of course, how was it to work with Vijay Mallya & Subrata Roy? What exactly did we do?

Here are some stories (text & photos)

What’s the story of the steering wheel?

That’s a steering wheel of one of many show cars we built in India for the Force India #F1 Team. We reverse engineered a “real” show car in a factory in Bangalore.

The show cars were used extensively in building brand experiences.

Next: the story of the ambitious “One from a Billion Hunt”

The grassroots program that nurtured the talents of @DaruvalaJehan & @ArjunMaini - India’s finest racers by a mile

It was Vijay Mallya’s dream to find an Indian driver; “Force India’s Lewis Hamilton”, as he often said

Next: Force India’s maiden pole & podium @ 2009 Belgian GP in Spa.

This was a few months before I joined but the entire team received a replica of Giancarlo Fisichella’s trophy.

#F1 

Next: “Raise the Flag” - the central theme of Force India’s campaign for the inaugural “home” race - Indian GP.

The campaign saw participation from some of India’s most-known personalities through all walks of life.

Here are Deepika Padukone, Saurav Ganguly & Omar Abdullah.
#F1

Did you know?
Paris Hilton once promoted the Force India #F1 Team in the famous Bombay Times?

She posed with the team's show car for a front page photo op!

The two most-memorable campaigns were:

1. Shah Rukh Khan - probably the world's ONLY person who's face graced an #F1 car!

2. #MasterBlaster - commemorating Sachin Tendulkar's cricketing career

The conversation will be released over 3 parts - first episode on 01.04.

From my Force India 'archives' my helmet is most-cherished by my 18 month old daughter.

Here's Ravikant in the studio with Soumil & me. A BIG thanks to Soumil for playing hosting & bringing out our best memories.

Use the link in bio to tune in to the 1st episode.
#F1 #Podcast

Search for 'Inside Line F1 Podcast' in your favourite podcast streaming app - we are available on all platforms (Apple, Spotify, Google, etc.)

Dates:
Episode 1: 1st April
Episode 2: 4th April
Episode 3: 14th April

Tune in to relive the memorable Force India #F1 Team!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/kunalashah/oxgf7VB

My Force India F1 Team Stories

While Haas still figure their 2nd driver, @iamsoumilaroraa & I discussed some:

- Can Haas do what Andretti is saying he wants to do with an #F1 team - get an American driver & raise funding/interest?

Is the American market BIG enough for more teams to attempt this?
#InsideF1

'Some students start preparing earlier but they still don't score the same marks' 

Soumil hopes that this theory doesn't come true for Haas' 2022 season - given that they had more development time than ALL their rivals.
#F1 #Haas

And of course, some thoughts on Mick Schumacher that I shared yesterday.

Kevin Magnussen is probably in the frame to re-join Haas for 2022 & that's great news for the team & #F1 altogether!

https://twitter.com/kunalashah/status/1501150751455780868?s=20&t=QK-El5rnJh9THEDJXumJFA

The K-MAG return story was reported a few hours ago:
#F1 #InsideF1 
https://twitter.com/kunalashah/status/1501337516930211843?s=20&t=QK-El5rnJh9THEDJXumJFA

Can Haas do what Andretti wants to do with F1 and America?

.@DaruvalaJehan after the #F2 pre-season test that concluded yesterday in Bahrain:

"We experienced three very productive days of testing. As a team, we were trying to simulate what is going to happen on the race weekend in terms of conditions. 
#F2Testing #India

“So in the AM sessions, we focused mostly on race runs, starts, and pit-stop practice, and in the PM sessions we were focusing more on qualifying pace, hence we used one set of Option tyres on Day 1 and Day 2 at night to have a feel for how it will be in qualifying.
#F2

“The car felt great on short and long runs, & as a team, we got through our run plan, of course apart from Day 3 evening with the sandstorm. There are a lot of positives to take from the test & most importantly I feel comfortable in the car & ready for the battle on our hands!"

My take:

I love how @DaruvalaJehan ended his statement - “ready for the battle on our hands!” 😉

He’s mentally ready for it!

#F2 #India #Motorsport